The customers inside the restaurant buzzed with their own topics as Vilera explained the power of the establishment to the two newcomers. Ludwig had also rested in his station, but his sense was still sharp on Vilera.
Just like most of the patrons who walked into this restaurant the first time, the two black haired humans were baffled. Yes, just baffled, not sceptical. In his opinion, the absence of the latter emotion could be accounted for by the presence of several non-humans species inside the restaurant. Even though he didn't think about that point when he decided to hire some demonkin as his employees, he still patted himself for the decision.
Some questions and answers later, Ludwig finally felt the two newcomers relaxing a little bit. Though judging from how the man stepped and the direction of his body, the man who jumped in front of the woman earlier was still ready to react if the need came to be.
The feet of the bar chair let out a sound as it scraped against the floor beneath. As the newcomers sat down, he could feel Ilea's eyes landing on the woman. With a hum, he let the restaurant feed him information about the woman. Aside from her black hair and simple yet elegant dress, she was someone with black eyes and fair skin. She had a face that screamed 'Asian' to anyone who saw her. Unlike her, though. The man beside her had blue eyes. His face was also the exact opposite from her. In Earth's terms, he had the face of people from Europe.
Looking at the two, his senses started to scream at him. Then, a certain premonition crashed hard. A moment later, as if to tell him that his sense wasn't strong, the woman's voice came out of her mouth, shaking.
"K-Korean style spicy seafood soup?"
Soon after those words touched the air, Vilera's calm and steady voice rang. "Do you want to order Today's Special, Dear Customer?"
"N-No. P-please wait a minute." The woman stuttered, her face went blank. At the same time, the man beside her scoot closer to her and put his hand on her shoulder.
"Akane, what's wrong?"
As what he thought to be the name of the woman was said by the man, Ludwig's brows furrowed. It seemed like the premonition he felt earlier was coming closer and closer to be true.
However, it was not only him who reacted. Across the separator, Ilea's brows also moved. After a breath, her eyes start to scan the woman. Using that as his cue, Ludwig rose to his feet, his lips stretching to both sides.
Ilea gave him a look as soon as he stood straight. In his eyes, it was like Ilea asking him whether it was okay for her to ask the woman. Trusting his senses, Ludwig just shrugged. In the next moment, Ilea acted.
"I'm sorry to bother you. Are you perhaps someone from Earth?"
The woman whipped her head towards Ilea so fast to the point the seat beneath her tilted to one side. If it's not for the man's reflex, she would have been on the floor right now. "D-did you just say Earth?"
Judging by how she reacted, Ludwig didn't even have to hear her answer. He was one hundred percent sure now that the woman was someone from Earth. That too not reincarnated but rather summoned. However, from which manga, he didn't know.
"Yes, I said Earth." Ilea simply nodded in front of the question of the woman who was called Akane.
"A-are you also from Earth?" Akane asked again, tone went higher than earlier.
"I am, I suppose." Ilea chuckled. "Though, I didn't come to this restaurant from Earth."
"What do you mean?"
"Aren't you the same? You didn't come here through Earth, did you?"
Akane stopped firing another question after Ilea's question. Her eyes turned sharp, and it was obvious that her mind was working overtime. It seemed like she was someone with a good enough head to be able to piece all the information given to her by Ilea.
After a stint of silence from both women, Akane opened her mouth. "So, you are also summoned to another world?"
Ilea chuckled at her question, her eyes showed that she was quite amused. "Well, in my opinion, rather than being summoned, I was forcefully transported to another world."
"I don't understand." Akane muttered. "What do you mean by that?"
"First, let me ask you this. How did you end up in another world?" Ilea asked as she placed the beer can in front of her mouth.
"I…" Akane words trailed. But then, her face went serious. "I was brought to another world by the kingdom who needed the power of my sister."
At that revelation, Ludwig couldn't help but get taken aback. She's a plus one? But judging from how she dressed and how she had a chaperon with her, it didn't seem like the kingdom that summoned her sister treated her badly. Good for her. A lot of Isekai manga that had plus one protagonist took a dark turn right after the summoning arc.
"Is the kingdom treating you well?" Ilea's voice became low. It seemed like her mind jumped right to the bad scenario.
"They treat me great, don't misunderstand!" She waved her hands after answering quite quickly.
"Thank god." Ilea sighed before taking another gulp from the can.
"But why did you ask me that?"
From those words, Ludwig, and maybe Ilea too realized her background. She was someone who had little to nothing to do with manga culture. After all, even shojou manga had their own twist to the Isekai genre nowadays.
"You see. When I first arrived in my current world, I was in the middle of a forest. I had to fend for myself right after." Ilea explained. "That little blonde girl over there is also the same. She was summoned into a labyrinth, forced to fend for herself. So I think, since you are not the person they wanted to summon, they might treat you badly. That's just how humans are."
The mouth of Akane and the man beside her opened wide after hearing what Ilea and the blonde little kid experienced. "I-I'm sorry to hear that."
"You don't have to. But I appreciated it regardless." Ilea shrugged.
Sensing the important talks were already out of the way, Ludwig used the chance to place two glasses of water in front of the woman and man. "Dear Customer, do you have something you want to eat?"
Hearing his words, Akane looked at him. "O-oh, I apologize." She then looked at the menu. "What dishes do you have aside from Today's Special?"
Ludwig thought about the ingredients his kitchen housed right now before answering. "Depends on what food you wanted to eat. Do you prefer Japanese cuisine, or other cuisine?"
The woman's face scrunched, she was probably thinking about what she wanted to eat. Peculiar. After all, when someone gets transported to another world, their first reaction after seeing his menu should be food from their hometown.
"Can you make pasta? Any kind will do." She answered.
"I can do that. That's all for you?" Ludwig asked.
"Yes, and thank you." Akane said, which Ludwig responded with a nod. But then, he looked at the man beside her.
"How about you, sir? Anything you want to eat?"
The man looked flustered after receiving his question. He then looked at the menu. But even after his eyes scanning the menu from the top to the bottom, he seemed still unable to decide. "I-I'll take what Akane ordered."
"Alright. Two servings of pasta are coming right up." Ludwig said before bidding his farewell from the customer. On his way to the stove, he opened his shop to buy a pack of fresh pasta. The packet filled with long and thin noodles fell to the countertop with a dull thud. Cracking it opened, Ludwig gave order to Bilo. "Get me the clams and a few garlics from the storage cabinet please."
"Yessir." Bilo answered and moved.
Ludwig filled a pot with water before putting it on the runic stove. Clang of the metal bowls hitting the countertop echoed behind him, his hands moved towards the seasoning cabinets, took a pinch of salt and plunged it into the water.
After the water started to bubble, Ludwig took some of the pasta from the packets and plunged it into the hot bath. While waiting for it to be cooked, Ludwig set a wide pan beside the pot, poured olive oil into it, and scattered garlic sliced throughout the pan. They hissed because of the heat, releasing their distinct aroma to the air as they turned golden. Chili flakes entered at that moment, transforming the oil into a hue of red.
With a quick motion, Ludwig scooped the clams from the bowls sitting on the countertop and dunked it into the hot pan, creating a hiss of angry steam. After another round of angry steam from the white wine he poured, the clams start to open their one and only defense.
He took a scoop of water from the pot that boiled the pasta and poured it into the mixture inside the wide pan. Then, he lifted the pasta from the pot and transported it into the wide pan. After giving it a stir to make sure every inch of the noodles were covered by the thickening sauce, he killed the rune. A squeeze of lemon and chopped parsley followed other ingredients into the pan, giving a fresh and herby smell to the dish.
Summoning a spoon into his hand, Ludwig took a sip of the sauce. A familiar clammy and fresh taste greeted his tongue. Nodding his head, he sent the spoon away and took the pan and spun to face the countertop. With the tongs he had been using, he pinched a portion of the pasta and put it into the plate before doing the same for the next plate.
"Bilo, deliver it." Ludwig said.
"Yessir." Bilo moved quickly, steps already efficient.
As he returned to his seat, he saw the man and woman scooping the pasta into their mouth. Just like any other customer, their tense shoulders sagged right after. A magical power his cooking had. Or at least that's what he wanted to believe.
Before they could even finish the food, the door of the restaurant opened again. But this time, the one who entered was a familiar customer. A woman with red hair. She walked to the bar while looking around the restaurant.
"Welcome to Checkpoint." Ludwig and his employees said one after another.
"New employees?" Kushina asked as he plopped down to the chair.
"Yes. I think it's about time for me to get some employees." Ludwig answered.
"Good choice." Kushina said. "I see there's also some new customers."
"Yeah.." Ludwig smiled before pointing towards a woman who was glancing towards Kushina while sipping on her beer. "This is Ilea, Claire's friend. That three over there is also Ilea's friend. Those two are the real new ones. Came from a new world."
"Finally." Kushina beamed as she looked at Akane and the man. "But before that, give me that noddle that the new guys are eating."
"Coming right up." Ludwig moved again into the kitchen, leaving Bilo to serve water to Kushina.
Anyone know which Manga Akane came from?